Mercedes unveiled a self-driving van concept to showcase its vision for a futuristic drone delivery service. The German automaker isn't the only one exploring the drone delivery van service — UPS recently unveiled a hybrid truck with a drone nest built into the roof. The nest would house a Workhorse HorseFly autonomous drone that could carry 10 pounds worth of packages.

Meet the Mercedes Vision Van: an all-electric van with a range up to 168 miles.

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The trunk is capable of supporting a "one-shot loading" system to get packages in the trunk and out to customers faster.

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The interior of the van has a fully automated cargo space. It features a mechanical shelving system that loads packages and knows where each package is going. The driver will get a notification when approaching a drop-off location for a package.

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A drone will accompany the van by sitting on a landing station on top. When the van approaches a drop-off location, the shelving system will push the package to the drone so it can be flown to its final location.

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Here's a better look at how the drone would receive the package.

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Matternet's autonomous drone, the Matternet M2 drone, can travel 12 miles on a single charge.

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Although the drone would aid in package delivery, Mercedes still sees the driver playing a role as well. The Vision Van has a specialized compartment where the driver can grab packages without going to the back of the vehicle.

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Mercedes is developing a telematics unit for the van that can relay the status of a package to the distribution manager so last-minute delivery changes can be made easily.

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Andreas Raptopoulous, the founder and CEO of Matternet, told Business Insider's Ariel Schwartz that he could see the delivery system working in tandem with a company like Amazon. A customer could order something off Amazon and elect to have it delivered by a nearby Vision Van, he said.